Always a bridesmaid

By Mara Pattison-Sowden
But in a celebration that now has a $2 billion industry associated with it, it’s no wonder brides can go a little crazy in the planning.
Traditions for choosing bridesmaid dresses have changed over time, as have dress prices and body shapes.
This can cause problems, as bridesmaid Anna explained.
“I had a good time and enjoyed being a bridesmaid but there are definite points of tension,” she said.
She has been to two weddings in the last three years as a bridesmaid – one was for her cousin and the other was a good friend.
And the dresses, you ask?
“They were both horrible, I had no choice in them,” she said.
In both situations the bride told Anna their mothers had found “this amazing dress – you’ll love it, which was a total token question,” she said.
In Jen’s wedding, which was organised with two months’ notice, the bridesmaids suggested other dresses.
“Because this one was truly horrible we thought we’d do her a favour and look for some other options,” she said.
The girls spent five hours at Chadstone Shopping Centre taking photos of different gold-themed dresses.
“We emailed them to her on the iPhone and said ‘we like the dress, but weren’t sure if you wanted us to do some research’,” she said.
“We never heard back and she then wanted to go shopping altogether, code for ‘I saw the other dresses and didn’t like them’.”
It was ultimately the mother of the bride’s decision, as she was paying for the dresses.
Anna however, was asked to pay for the bridesmaid dress for her cousin’s wedding.
“It was almost $300, and I’m of the view that was a lot of money especially because we were all at uni so my parents paid for it,” she said.
“I believe if you want your bridesmaids to pay for the dresses you need to let them pick their own dresses.”
Owner of Boronia formal and evening wear shop Miss Bella, Gaye Croft said the brides that came to her had an idea of what they wanted and didn’t worry too much about what the girls’ wore.
“Brides are getting more mindful of body shapes so they might have a bridesmaid dress in the same colour, but different styles,” she said.
“We have bridesmaids from age 7 to 55 or so, so the dress also has to suit the body type.”
In which case the bride could choose the same style but different colours, as long as it complemented the bride and the colour scheme.
Colours could also be seasonal, she said, as pastels could feel cold in the winter months but dark colours could be hot in the summer.
“We’ve also had a number of weddings where the brides have a coloured gown and the bridesmaids are in ivory or something less subtle,” she said.
Ms Croft is able to give her customers sound advice to keep the experience enjoyable and low-stress.
“We like to remind people that in hotter months a floor-length gown won’t give much air-conditioning,” she said.
“It’s more about being able to wear it again.”
“It’s smart shopping to get more than one use out of it.”
Ms Croft said most dresses needed alterations on top of the dress cost, to complement different shapes, change straps or shorten/lengthen dresses.
She said most importantly, the bride and her bridesmaids needed to feel comfortable and flattering in their dresses.